A Swift Kick of Love
by shingekinolife
Summary: Relationships are normally formed on the basis of friendship…or at least that's what Keishin Ukai thought until a meeting with his future friend, and love, starts off with a swift kick to the groin. Rated T for language and adult situations. Rating will be kicked up to M later on for mature situations.
**Summary:** Relationships are normally formed on the basis of friendship…or at least that's what Keishin Ukai thought until a meeting with his future friend (and love) starts off with a swift kick to the groin.

 **Disclaimer:** The characters of the Haikyuu! Universe are property of its respective author. I don't own any canon characters, plots and situations and I don't make any money from this story. I only own my OCs.

 **Rating:** T for language and adult situations. Rating will be kicked up to M later on for mature situations.

* * *

 **A Swift Kick of Love**

Chapter 1: Balls and Pineapples

* * *

Keishin Ukai looked around the crowded bar, feeling at home amongst the blaring rock music, the strong scent of beer, and the sweaty bodies drunkenly bumping into one another.

"Oi! Keishin! Over here!"

Keishin craned his neck to peer over the sea of heads crowding the bar floor. He saw a familiar figure frantically waving at him. He grinned and began to weave through the crowd, finally managing to make it to the small circular table at the back of the room.

"You actually made it!" his best friend, Makoto Shimada, roared, clapping him heartily on the back.

Keishin rolled his eyes. "Only because you promised to pay for my beer," he retorted playfully.

Makoto nodded agreeably and produced a foaming mug of beer for his friend. Keishin accepted it eagerly.

"How's coaching going?" their other friend, Yusuke Takinoe, asked from next to Makoto.

"Eh, not bad. We have a practice match with Nekoma this weekend."

Yusuke raised his eyebrows. "Good luck with that. We're all waiting for the legendary 'Battle at the Trash Heap' to happen again."

Keishin snorted in agreement as he took another sip of his beer. He watched as people messily sang songs together, dribbling beer all over the place. It was quite relaxing to take a load off at the beginning of the week like this, but it had been a while since he had last gotten together with his friends for a spur-of-the-moment drinking night.

"So what's this…casual… meeting on a Tuesday night for anyways?" he asked his friends.

Yusuke was too busy staring at a pretty blonde standing near him, so Makoto answered.

"Do we really need an excuse to get together and drink? We only ever see you at the Neighborhood Association matches on weekends these days!"

The Karasuno volleyball coach eyed his friend suspiciously. Makoto's cheeks were pink and his right eye was twitching slightly- a dead give-away when he lied.

"No really, why?" Keishin asked, catching his friend in his lie.

Makoto laughed nervously and scratched his head, crumbling under his friend's intense gaze.

"Okay…okay…I may have broken up with my girlfriend over text, and I needed an escape for a bit," he admitted sheepishly.

Keishin wisely kept his mouth shut. He never really liked his friend's girlfriend in any case.

"Here's to being single!" he cheered, raising his mug and tapping it against Makoto's. His friend smiled gratefully at him.

"What are we cheering about?" Yusuke asked distractedly, tearing his eyes off of the object of his attention's perfectly shaped behind.

"Nothing, buddy," Makoto laughed. Yusuke shrugged and gulped down his beer.

As the night wore on, the three friends stood chatting, catching up about life and trading old stories about their days when they played on Karasuno's volleyball team.

Makoto was rubbing tears of laughter away from his eyes as Keishin recalled a story.

"Remember when Yusuke got nailed in the head with the ball because he was too busy flirting with that girl in the stands?" Keishin said between chuckles.

Yusuke's face was red. "I could have sworn she winked at me! How was I supposed to know her boyfriend was the spiker for the other team?" he exclaimed.

"Maybe she was just trying to blink away the image of your ugly face," Makoto squawked with laughter.

"Oh, Yusuke," Keishin laughed, patting his brooding friend consolingly.

"Screw you guys. I'm going to find new friends," the tall man said with a pout. He took one last sip from his beer before setting the mug down and turning around to chat up the girl he had been eyeing for so long. Both Makoto and Keishin rolled their eyes at their friend's antics.

They continued to swap old stories while watching Yusuke unsuccessfully flirt with the blond beauty. Keishin felt himself relax as time wore on. It felt really good to just hang out with friends and drink good beer- not the piss poor kind that was left in his fridge back home.

"Oh, remember when-" Makoto began, only to be cut off by a distraction in the form of a tiny girl. He looked down at the girl in surprise and recognition.

"Taeko? What are you doing here?"

"Makoto! I'm so glad to see you! Kyo brought me here, but now I can't find him, and I think he ditched me…I'm so lost, and some guys were touching me and giving me a lot of drinks. I'm pretty sure an assassin person is following me around and he might be trying to kidnap me…" she babbled.

"Tae-chan. Tae-Taeko!" Makoto said, grasping her shoulders firmly and shaking her a little bit to get her to focus. "You're here with Kyo?"

"I think so…He said he was going to get more drinks but he never came back…" she said with a slight slur.

Makoto's brow wrinkled in disgust. "Your good for nothing boyfriend left you alone, very intoxicated, in the middle of a bar full of rowdy guys?"

"Yep!" she exclaimed happily, making a popping noise with her lips. Then she paused, looking confused for a moment, squinting around. "Wait…"

Makoto adjusted his glasses wearily.

"Um, who the hell is this?" Keishin asked in confusion.

The small girl heard him and looked up at him, her mouth forming a bit of a grimace.

"Oh, this is my little sister- Taeko," Makoto explained. "You know, the one who lived in America for ten years?"

Keishin nodded. In high school, he had heard about Makoto's sister, but never saw her. Makoto's parents had gotten divorced when he was young. His mother stayed in Japan, and his father went to live in America, taking along Makoto's little sister with him.

"She came back to Japan to get her Master's degree here," he said, shouting slightly to be heard over the loud music.

"Why are we yelling?" the small girl crowed loudly.

Makoto looked back down at his sister in concern. "How much did you drink, Tae-chan?"

She looked slightly confused as she began to count on her fingers. After she reached five, she frowned, apparently losing track of the numbers, and began to count again.

"Okay, obviously one too many," Makoto sighed. He peered at his sister suspiciously. "Are you sure you only drank something? A strange guy in a leather jacket by the bathrooms didn't give you small white rocks in a glass pipe, righ-?"

Taeko opened her mouth to voice her answer when she swayed slightly, losing her balance. Makoto caught her quickly before she could fall down.

"I think we need to take you home," he sighed. He furrowed his brow as if remembering something. "Speaking of home," he began, turning to Keishin. "I have a favour to ask of you Kei-chan," he said.

Keishin cocked an eyebrow. Makoto only used that childish nickname when he was really desperate. But before he could speak, he was interrupted by something akin to the sound of a banshee's screams.

"SHIMADA MAKOTO," a voice shrieked from the other side of the bar, interrupting him. Makoto blanched as he looked up to catch sight of his very angry ex-girlfriend. She was fuming.

"Oh, shit!" he muttered. "How the hell did she find me?"

"It might have to do with the fact that Yusuke posted a picture of us on Facebook with our current location. He probably tagged you in it," Keishin drawled in amusement.

Makoto looked at Keishin with wide eyes. "Um, okay, I can't deal with this right now. Listen, can you keep an eye on my sister for a few minutes while I take care of-of that?" he referred to the woman angrily stalking towards him.

"Who? Her-?" Keishin asked, glaring at the small girl. She wasn't paying attention to either of them. Instead, she was holding onto the table for dear life.

"The room is-is spinning really fast. Is it sp-spinning for anyone else?" she squeaked, her grip on the table tightening.

"I'm not a freaking babysitter, Makoto!" Keishin hissed.

"Just for a few seconds, dude! I just want to make sure that she doesn't run off or get drugged by the guy who always stands in front of the bathroom!"

"Wait, wha-?"

Makoto ignored his friend and turned to his little sister. "Okay, Tae-chan. This is Ukai Keishin, my friend. He's going to take care of you, okay?" he cooed. She gazed at him blankly.

Before Keishin could protest, Makoto had slipped away and was walking to his ex-girlfriend, his face pale.

"H-hey, Hana-chan," he said meekly.

"DON'T 'HEY, HANA-CHAN' ME, YOU ASSHOLE!"

Not wanting to witness the disaster about to unfold for his best friend, Keishin looked down at Taeko who had straightened up and was staring at him warily. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with the tiny drunk, so he decided that keeping her distracted with a conversation might be the best way to go.

"So, um, is the room still spinning or-"

But she didn't stay to hear him finish. Instead, she turned around and began sprinting through the bar, racing towards the back exit. Keishin blinked in surprise.

"Hey! HEY! WAIT!" he exclaimed, setting his beer down to sprint after her. If he lost track of this girl, Makoto was going to murder him.

* * *

 _Damn this kid is fast_ , Keishin thought as he jogged tiredly after the girl. Even after sprinting for a considerable amount of time, she had shown no signs of slowing down or exhaustion. _Is she drunk or on crack?_

She was far ahead of him, but he could hear her half-singing, half-talking to herself.

"Don't let the sun-man catch you! Don't let the sun-man kidnap you!" she chanted unsteadily as she continued to run.

 _Sun-man_? Keishin thought in confusion. _Is she talking about me?_

"Oi! Shimada-san! Come back!" She didn't listen to him, continuing to repeat her mantra. "And don't make fun of my hair! It doesn't look like the sun!" he added in frustration.

"I won't let you catch me, sun-man!" she yelled at him over her shoulder.

She began to run in zigzag patterns, apparently in an effort to throw him off her trail. But instead, it made her already intoxicated brain more dizzy and caused her to trip and tumble to the ground with a brief shriek of surprise and pain.

Sighing in relief, Keishin slowed down, glad to have finally caught up to her. He looked around as he strode up to her crumpled figure and cocked an eyebrow. They had run quite a ways away from the bar and were now on a deserted street in the middle of- nowhere, apparently.

He offered her his hand.

"Are you alright, Shimada-san?" he asked as kindly as he could manage given the situation she had put him in. So naturally, his question came out as a blunt growl only made worse by his twitching brow.

She stared at him with a suspicious look, hesitantly stretching her own hand out.

"Come on, I'll take you back to the bar," he said.

Keishin was not ready for what happened next. For someone who was extremely drunk, and small, she moved very quickly.

Within the blink of an eye, she had grabbed his hand and pulled him down to her level. She quickly slapped his right cheek, and then brought leg up, kneeing him effectively in the groin.

"Screw you, sun-man! I won't let you kidnap me today!" she cried before backing away from him.

A high-pitched whine left Keishin's lips as pain radiated from his nether regions. He could have sworn that he was seeing a bright light for a few moments before it disappeared. Slowly sinking to his knees, Keishin desperately clutched at his crotch. The sting of her slap on his cheek was quite keen as well.

"Shimada-san" he gasped. "I'm not kidnapping you. I'm your brother's friend- Ukai Keishin. Remember?" he managed to say through gritted teeth.

He watched as her expression slowly went from one of determination and anger to one of guilt. She blinked a few times as that information began to set in. Apparently the cold night air was clearing her head up a bit too.

"Ukai-kun?" she asked softly. He nodded, groaning as the pain refused to fade away.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I thought you were…I'm sorry!" she squealed, dropping down next to him and holding his arm.

"For someone so small, you sure are strong," he said with a chuckle that quickly turned into a grunt of pain.

"My dad taught me how to fend off attackers back home," she supplied with a blush.

He looked at her questioningly.

"We lived in a rough part of town."

Keishin nodded understandingly. "Your dad would be proud," he rasped.

The way his balls were throbbing with pain could attest to that.

"Um, hold on- I'll call my brother," she muttered, trying to fish her phone out from her pocket.

Keishin studied the girl as she fumbled around. She looked just like her older brother with her long, messy black hair and dark grey eyes. But her skin was a lot more tanned as compared to Makoto's porcelain skin- although he assumed it was because of the amount of sun she got back in America.

"Hey, Makoto," she chirped into the phone. "So, I'm with your friend-" she paused and looked expectantly at the fallen man.

"Ukai Keishin," he supplied again, his pride slightly wounded. After being kicked in the balls, he had expected her to have at least remembered his name. This girl had a really bad memory.

"Right, Ukai-kun. We're kind of in the middle of nowhere on a street, and he can't walk so-" she paused again, listening to her brother talk on the other end of the line. "I'll explain why later," she said, flushing slightly. "A-anyways, can you come get us? I can send you our location from my phone."

Apparently he had agreed, because she quickly said goodbye and attempted to put her phone away. Attempted being the key word as it took her four tries to shove her phone back in the pocket, since she kept on missing.

How drunk was this girl?

After she managed to put her phone back, she looked at him, cocking her head slightly to the side. "Um, do you need me to massage it?" she asked, looking pointedly at his crotch.

Keishin raised an eyebrow.

"Are-are you asking if you can massage my…groin?"

She nodded and sniffed. "In a totally not weird way. Of course."

"Um, I'm good. Thanks, though," he snorted. She shrugged and sat down next to him as they waited.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. Given how tiny she was, it was no wonder that drinking a fair amount of alcohol would hit her harder than most.

When she didn't answer, he turned to look at her. Concern flooded him as he noticed that her face was slightly green and sweat beaded her forehead.

"What's wro-"

He didn't get to finish asking her. In seconds, he felt something warm and wet coat his pants, accompanied by gagging noises.

Keishin scrunched his eyes shut and took deep breaths. Bad idea. The sour odour of vomit drifted into his nose, making him gag slightly.

Taeko sat up weakly and wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve.

"I'm so sorry…please kill me now," she moaned in embarrassment.

Keishin was more than willing to comply with her request.

* * *

"Kageyama! Stop hitting Hinata!" Keishin yelled.

The blacked haired setter growled but released the fluffy, orange-haired spiker's head from the death grip he had kept it in.

Keishin rubbed his head wearily. Going out on a Tuesday night should not have been so tiring. Actually it hadn't been. It was getting kicked in the crotch, chasing a drunken girl, and then getting thrown up on that had exhausted him. It felt like the volleyball players were spiking the volleyballs in his head instead of on the court. Hearing the loud shouts of his players accompanied by the sharp noise of shoes squeaking against the polished floor was just adding to his headache.

"Okay. Practice is over!" he barked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

The captain of the team, a tall, broad boy by the name of Daichi Sawamura, looked up in surprise.

"Are you sure, Coach?"

Keishin nodded and waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. We'll pick up practice tomorrow. You can lead the regular morning exercises before classes tomorrow, Sawamura."

Daichi nodded.

"Um, Coach?" called Hinata.

"What?" Keishin growled. Hinata squeaked and hid behind the nearest person.

Keishin sighed. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to snap, Hinata. What is it?"

Hinata pointed towards the entry to the gym, his shaking finger the only visible part of him from behind Kageyama. "I think that girl's trying to get your attention," he said.

"Girl-?"

Keishin turned around to see a familiar figure lingering by the doorway.

"Oh no- not you again," he groaned.

Taeko flashed him a bright smile and waved energetically.

"Hello Ukai-kun. I came to talk to you about…yesterday," she chirped.

The volleyball coach shook his head and turned back to his team. "Clean up guys- then you can leave!"

"Yes, Coach!"

The gym was filled with echoing footsteps and laughter as the boys went to work, clearing up their gear. Keishin turned back and walked over to Taeko.

"You were saying, kid?"

Taeko glanced down at her worn, black sneakers in embarrassment.

"I really need to apologize for my behaviour last night!" she exclaimed, bowing low before him. The tips of her black hair gently brushed against the shiny floor. "It was my first time drinking and I don't think that it was a very good idea!"

"You think?" Keishin muttered sarcastically.

"Please accept this coupon to a massage shop as a token of my apology!" she added as she offered him a thin piece of paper. He looked down to read it.

 _25% off of a full body massage at Marnie's Massage Parlour!_

Further down the coupon was a message written in small text next to an asterisk.

 _*Requests for BDSM must be taken up with management._

"Um, this is expired," he said, eyeing the small print that ran across the bottom of the garishly coloured coupon.

She straightened up with a confused expression. "Oh, really? Because my brother said it was good for another year or so."

Keishin rolled his eyes. Of course Makoto would pull something like this. He probably thought it would be hilarious.

"I'm also quite sure that this place employs prostitutes…I don't think it's for actual massages."

Taeko's eyes widened immensely.

"A-are you sure?"

He nodded and pointed at the BDSM note.

"Oh-oh…I'm sorry! I had no idea! Oh my goodness, I didn't mean to suggest that you're-into that stuff…or something!" she stammered.

Some of the boys turned to stare curiously at the tiny girl who seemed very distressed at the moment.

"Who do you think that is?" a slender, silver-haired boy asked Daichi.

"No clue, Suga," he said with a shrug to his friend.

"Hey, hey- do you think she's his girlfriend?" the team's short, mischievous libero asked excitedly.

"Nishinoya- there's no way someone as grumpy as Coach could be dating someone as happy as that girl."

"Well, she doesn't look very happy right now," Sugawara said, biting his lip anxiously.

"Listen, it wasn't your fault that your lame boyfriend ditched and left you drunk and alone," Keishin sighed, scratching his head. His slightly sore crotch and bad smelling pants, which were currently soaking in the bathroom sink back in his apartment, told a different story.

She glared at him. "Kyo didn't ditch me. Apparently we were at a different bar when I somehow ran away from him and into the bar where my brother was." She paused to think for a moment. "And he's not my boyfriend," she added.

Keishin rolled his eyes. "Listen, kid. I don't really care. Whatever happened happened. You apologized and I accept your apology. Now please leave before you end up stepping on my feet and breaking a few of my toes."

Taeko looked at him with a mildly hurt expression for a few seconds before offering him a weak grin.

"With my luck, that would probably happen," she chuckled.

Keishin didn't doubt it for a moment. He turned to go and help the players clean up the court when she stopped him.

"Oh, actually, I have something else to say!"

The Karasuno coach had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he turned back to speak to the young girl.

"What more do you want, kid?" he asked snippily.

Either she was incredibly oblivious to his irritated attitude or she ignored it. "I actually have a favour to ask of you," she said in a slightly nervous tone.

Despite how tired and grumpy he was, Keishin couldn't deny the fact that he was intrigued. What favour could someone he had known for less than twelve hours ask of him?

She gently bit her lip and adjusted the messenger bag that was strapped across her chest.

"I need a place to stay while I'm studying here," she started.

Keishin, though surprised, had to give her credit for getting straight to the point. He appreciated it when people were straightforward.

"And?" he asked, although he was quite sure where this was going.

"Makoto said you lived close to the University I'll be studying at. Can I please stay with you, Ukai-kun? I'll pay half the rent and I'll do housework!" she begged.

Keishin frowned. He had lived on his own for quite sometime now and enjoyed it. None of his relationships had ever become serious enough to warrant moving in with his partner, so he wasn't entirely sure if he would be comfortable living with someone he barely knew.

"Why can't you stay with your brother and Yusuke?" he asked.

"My brother says that although he'd love it if I lived with him, he thinks that Yusuke's a big pervert and he might 'destroy my innocence' with all the girls he brings home," she concluded with air quotes.

Keishin couldn't argue with that.

"Also, you're a lot closer to the college than he is," she continued.

Now, Keishin wasn't a bad person. In fact, he could be quite a nice person after a few beers, a good volleyball match, and some sweet tunes playing in the background. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the most charitable of moods at the moment. Apparently, Taeko could read the reluctance in his expression very clearly. So when he opened his mouth to shoot down her request, she quickly cut in.

"I didn't want to use this, but my brother said that you still owe him a favour for the smoothie incident back in college," she said hastily.

Keishin mentally face-palmed.

"Damn it. I knew that was going to bite me in the butt someday," he growled lowly. He really did owe Makoto one. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, making him look at her with mixed expression of both embarrassment and suspicion. "Did he tell you the details of the…incident?"

She shook her head. While Keishin doubted that, he could see the sincerity sparkling in her eyes.

With a defeated sigh, Keishin nodded.

"Fine. You can stay-" he said, eyeing his new houseguest. Her smile stretched from ear to ear.

"Thank you so much, Ukai-kun!" she exclaimed, bouncing in place.

"-but," he continued, "you will pay for half the rent, including utilities, and you will be responsible for some housework. Got it?"

She nodded eagerly. "Of course, Ukai-kun! Thank you!"

"Whatever, kid," he said dismissively. He stood there, waiting for her to leave when he noticed that she didn't seem to be inclined to move anytime soon.

"Right, you need the address," he mumbled more to himself than to her. He held out his hand. Taeko looked at it with confusion. "Give me your phone," he sighed impatiently.

Her expression brightened with understanding as she handed him her phone. He quickly added his number to her contacts and then sent himself a text from her phone so that he would have her number.

"Take it," he muttered, offering her the phone back. She accepted it gratefully, but still didn't move from her spot.

"Are you glued to the floor or do you need something else?" he grunted.

"Actually, can I hitch a ride home with you?" she asked shyly.

Keishin's eyes bugged out in surprise. All those years in America had made the girl extremely forward. She was already calling his apartment "home"?

"Can't you take the bus?" he asked in annoyance.

She shook her head. "I'll get lost! I haven't lived in Japan for more than a decade- I can barely remember where my childhood home is…"

The young coach wanted to strangle something…or someone…at the moment. The combination of his headache and this infuriating situation was driving him insane.

"Fine! Fine…I'll-I'll drive you back. But only for today! You have to figure out your way around the city after this," he said firmly as he turned to walk out of the gym.

"Sounds good!" she chirped.

A chorus of "See you later, Coach!" and "Good work today!" followed them both out of the gym.

 _Why is she so happy all the time_ , he thought incredulously as the girl followed him, cheerful but quiet. Or maybe he was just really grumpy. Now that he thought about it, Hinata was pretty chipper most of the time. His brows furrowed as he realized that he would be the equivalent to Kageyama in that case. He shook his head in disbelief. Why on earth was he comparing himself to his players?

As his thoughts ran amuck, he noticed with surprise that it seemed the young girl had finally caught on to his tense mood, generously giving him the silence he so desperately wanted.

Maybe living with her wouldn't be that bad.

Keishin snorted in disbelief at his own thought. _Yeah right_. If she was anything like her older brother, Keishin knew that she would be a handful to deal with.

"Oh…is that your car?" she asked from behind him. Keishin turned to see her peering at the bright yellow car in front of them with a look of slight distaste.

"Yeah. Got a problem with it?" he said waspishly. Her previous expression disappeared immediately.

"Of course not! It's a very…um…very… _bright_ car," she managed to say with a forced smile.

Keishin was slightly wounded at her obvious dislike for his car. "Get in before I make you walk," he grumbled.

She nodded and slid into the passenger's seat while he took his place behind the wheel.

They drove in silence for a bit. It usually took around thirty minutes for him to drive to his apartment from Karasuno High School, which wasn't too bad given the amount of traffic that could build up at certain times.

But apparently the girl was unable to stay quiet for very long periods of time.

"Ukai-kun?" she hummed ten minutes into the drive.

He didn't respond, trying to focus on the road in front of them. He hoped that she'd take his silence as a sign that he wasn't in the mood to talk. It worked…for a grand total of fifteen seconds.

"Ukai-kun?"

He sighed, aware that if he didn't respond, she would probably keep calling him until they reached the apartment.

"What, kid?" he asked tiredly.

"Does your car have a name?" she asked thoughtfully.

Keishin was at a loss for words.

"What?" he asked, not sure if he had heard her properly.

"Your car- have you named it?" she asked again, turning her gaze from the passing landscape to focus on him.

At first, he thought she was asking that to annoy him or to be silly. But once again, her eyes were extremely sincere.

"I-" he cleared his throat, "I have not."

"How sad," she murmured. She stayed quite for a few seconds. Then-

"Pineapple."

Keishin was sure he would either blow a fuse or be driven to absolute insanity with this girl.

"Sorry?"

"I think we should name it the Pineapple Mobile," she said simply.

There were so many questions that he could, and wanted to ask her, but only one made it out from his mouth.

"Why?" he asked in disbelief.

"Because your car is yellow like a pineapple. Plus I like pineapples," she explained, looking at him as if this explanation was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Do you smoke pot?" was his next question. He was trying to rationalize the girl's eccentricity to himself.

"Nope," she paused, her grey eyes sweeping over his face. Then she leaned closer to him and spoke in a low voice. "But if you have a pot issue, Ukai-kun, I won't tell anyone."

Keishin was truly speechless at this point. What kind of whack job for a sister did Makoto have? Were all Americans like this? With these disturbing questions in mind. Keishin decided that as soon as they got home, he was going to give Makoto a very angry call- smoothie incident be damned!

But then, through his silent fuming, he heard her speak softly.

"I'm sorry if I'm annoying you, Ukai-kun. I really do appreciate the hospitality you're showing me," she said, genuine gratitude evident in her tone and expression.

Keishin felt himself deflate. Was his frustration that obvious? He wasn't being fair to her, he thought guiltily.

"Listen, kid," he began, his voice low and gravelly. "It's fine. It's just been a rough day, you know?"

She nodded shamefacedly, knowing that she had caused most, if not all, of that 'roughness'.

"I'll stay out of your way from now on, Ukai-kun," she said amiably.

He shook his head.

"You don't have to go out of your way to avoid me, kid. Just know that I'm not always in the best of moods."

The corner of her lip twitched upward. "I know. Makoto said that you were called Old Man Grumps in college."

Keishin's hands tightened around the steering wheel. He was honestly considering disowning Makoto as his best friend.

"Your brother is an idiot," he muttered.

"I know," she laughed in agreement.

* * *

Once they had entered the apartment, Keishin watched as Taeko looked around excitedly.

"Wahhh- you have a really nice place, Ukai-kun!"

The young coach shrugged. "It's not much."

It really wasn't much. He had a small one-bedroom apartment with a simple kitchen, living room, and bathroom. It wasn't very messy, but it was slightly cluttered since he had a few dishes laying on the kitchen counter as well as some clothes sprawled across the couch. Piles of videotapes were scattered in front of the small TV situated in the living room.

"Wow, you really take coaching seriously," Taeko noted as she glanced at the multiple tapes which held recorded plays of other volleyball teams.

Keishin rolled his eyes. "Only because they really need a good coach," he grunted.

She smiled knowingly. "Of course," she said, humouring him.

"Anyways," Keishin mumbled, looking around the cluttered room, "I don't have an extra futon for you to sleep on…but you can take mine and I can take the couch." He said this with a bit of reluctance since he had slept on the couch before, and it hadn't been a pleasurable experience. His tall frame didn't allow him to fit on the couch properly, leaving either his arms or legs dangling off of the couch edge.

Taeko shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she said indifferently. "I'm small enough to fit on the couch, plus I spend most of my undergraduate education sleeping on a couch."

He looked at her questioningly, but she waved it off. "A story for another time, Ukai-kun."

"Well, if you're sure you'll be fine on the couch, then sure. I'll get you an extra pillow and some blankets."

"I can't even begin to thank you enough, Ukai-kun," she said for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

"Oh, trust me, I know," he responded drily. "You can keep your stuff in the storage closet by the bathroom…wait, where is your stuff?" he asked, looking around. He didn't remember her coming in with any of her belongings besides the messenger bag strapped on her.

"Makoto's bringing them over after he finishes his work shift."

He nodded.

"Okay, well, if you're good, I'm going to hit the hay," he said with a slight yawn. "If you're bored, you can watch some TV. Just remember to leave the remote on the coffee table when you're done. I don't have many books to read, but I can show you where the bookstore is tomorrow."

She flashed him a bright grin. "Don't worry about me, Ukai-kun. I'm good at keeping myself entertained!"

Keishin didn't doubt that.

A buzzing noise came from her pocket. Taeko quickly picked up the phone and read a text from her brother.

"My brother will be over in an hour or so. I'm just going to go exploring out nearby for a while," she said.

"By yourself?" Keishin asked with slight concern. It wasn't that late at night, but it wasn't always safe for a young girl to walk around town by herself.

"I'll be fine."

Keishin would have protested more, but exhaustion was finally hitting him hard. His bed was calling out to him.

"Well before you leave, take the spare key with you so you're not locked out."

He walked over to the kitchen and opened up a drawer by the microwave, pulling out a single, silver key. The coach handed it over to her.

"Don't lose that, okay?" he warned her. She nodded, tucking it into her pocket.

"Thanks, Ukai-kun! I'll be quiet when I come back!"

"Whatever, kid. Just try not to get lost," he said while stretching.

Taeko adjusted the messenger bag on her shoulder and opened the front door. She turned around to see Keishin walking into his bedroom.

"Sleep well, Ukai-kun," she said softly.

* * *

 **A/N** : Someone needs to take the world of fanfiction away from me. I can't stop thinking of fanfic ideas and I seriously have to resist the temptation to write them. Urgh! Somehow this one slipped through my steel-mental barrier. (Possibly because I've been sucked into the addicting world of Haikyuu). Plus, the original idea of this story was inspired by an episode of "Girls". That show is pretty funny- totally recommend it.

Anyways, I seem to have a love for taking characters that aren't written about a lot and giving them their own stories. So here I present to you a story about Keishin Ukai! (Later on, I'll include a storyline about Takeda and his own OC love! Love everywhere!) The characters used in this story (Yusuke, Makoto) are canon- they're part of the Neighborhood Association! Yay for older volleyball players!

This won't get in the way of my updates for "Her Story", but these fics are definitely getting in the way of me being a fully functioning individual of society. Oh well.

Also, I hate writing Mary-Sue characters as much as I hate reading about them. So please let me know if my OCs start walking that dark path, and I will work as hard as I can to right that wrong! Anywho, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I already have the entire thing planned (from beginning to end) and it looks like it will be turning into either a two-part story, or it will warrant a sequel. We shall see when we get there.

Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to let me know what you think!


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